While most polling booths in the city had wheelchairs – over 13,000 were provided across Tamil Nadu – some voters experienced trouble with non-compliant ramps, sandy surfaces, lack of signage and barricaded entrances. However, disability helpdesks at some booths, excellent wheelchair volunteers in many others, some good ramps and helpful officials allowed many disabled residents and senior citizens to exercise their franchise.
Bhavna Botta, a voter in Saidapet who uses a wheelchair, had to be lifted into her booth. “There was a ramp at the end of the building but the entrances to the booths were barricaded with bamboo sticks and the wheelchair could not enter. The same thing happened in 2014. Nothing has changed since then,” said her mother, Kalpana Rao.
A voter in Ambattur, faced with a non-compliant ramp, raised the issue, after which sacks were placed underneath the boards, said T.M.N. Deepak, State president, December 3 movement.
When Dipti Bhatia went to her T. Nagar polling booth, she was informed that the EVM did not have Braille and the polling list of candidates too, was not in Braille.
“I told the officials that I would not vote as a mark of protest. However, I later got a call from officials telling me they had obtained a Braille EVM and then, a Braille polling list. They even offered to send someone to accompany me and then I voted,” she said.
Volunteers and officials were very helpful, said Smitha Sadasivan, a member of the Disability Rights Alliance, Tamil Nadu, (DRA) and in some cases, vehicles were allowed inside the polling station, making access easier. P. Neelakantan, a 103-year-old, who has been voting since the first general election after independence voted this time too and said he would continue to do so as long as he is alive.
The auxiliary polling station for 88 disabled persons in Kannagi Nagar under Sholinganallur Assembly Constituency received a good response from those for whom it had been set up. 62 of the 88 disabled voters attached to this special booth turned up and cast their votes, according to the Collector, R. Gajalakshmi. Stella, who came to the booth by hand-pedalling her tricycle, said: “Earlier, we used to visit the general booth but today, I was able to cast my vote quickly.”
(Additional Reporting by Sunitha Sekar and V.Venkatasubramanian)